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perfect storm
noun
: a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors
Examples of perfect storm in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Decades of neglecting infrastructure development, compounded by the monopolistic practices of corporate homebuilders, have created a perfect storm of unaffordability.
—Chris Gallagher, USA TODAY, 10 May 2024
The offshore wind industry has recently been hit by a perfect storm of rising inflation, higher interest rates and supply chain delays.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 6 May 2024
The cost of living crisis exacerbated these trends, Griffiths pointed out, creating a perfect storm for Europe’s automakers.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 16 Apr. 2024
Nonprofit theaters nationwide are contending with this perfect storm.
—Charles McNulty, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2024
In a text, Rodriguez said that a perfect storm of factors made continuing at Union Beer too difficult.
—Connie Ogle, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2024
Countries like Guyana are caught in a perfect storm where the consequences for extracting fossil fuels collide with the incentives to do so.
—Gaiutra Bahadur Keisha Scarville, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2024
Combined, these two factors create a perfect storm of gratification that gives players both the ability to push the worries of life to the back of their minds for a few hours and feel accomplished for doing so at the same time.
—Ian Walker |, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2024
Johannesburg is one of many of the world’s big cities that are dealing with a perfect storm of crumbling critical infrastructure, lack of maintenance, corruption and insufficient planning for population growth.
—Sarah Dean, CNN, 24 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perfect storm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1998, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near perfect storm
Cite this Entry
“Perfect storm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perfect%20storm. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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